Zealian Salvation
by ChaosGriffin
Summary: Locked in eternal suffering, a girl can only think and ponder what went wrong, until her saviour comes.


_Ugh! Dark power…wild energy… I can't control it! _

That is my past, my present, and for the moment, my unending future. How could this happen to me? I was such a simple girl, in mind and soul. I, before the darkness took me, was royalty of the highest order in the most prosperous of times. The princess of Eden, they used to call me. They don't know how right they were.

That monstrosity, Lavos, was the snake in this sordid tale. No, I am mistaken; Lavos was the apple and the **first** snake all in one. I say first because he tempted my mother with his power, which is the forbidden fruit, as the snake would do. Then she, as a loyal puppy follows its master, went out and tempted the rest of us and we succumbed. If Eve went under because of one snake, how could I, Schala Zeal, hope to fare better against two?

Yes, it was not Mother who sent forth the order to create the Mammon Machine with that jewel of fire incased inside, but I who asked her to have it be built. She may have made the final piece, the Undersea Palace, stand erect at the center of that well of evil, but I started the construction of what was to be housed inside. Our ancestors may have found that accursed gem, and she may have found the power, but I first put it to use. She may have been its puppet, but I was its co-conspirator. How was I supposed to even guess at the magnitude of pain and suffering my actions would cause, when all I was focused on was the good of the people?

Yet my wonderings and self-laments do nothing to change the fact of that day; the day when the tempter grew tired of the game, and Eden fell from the heights of the sky, into the cold hard grasp of reality. There is but one sole discrepancy I find in my memory as my torture continues in this dark place beyond even the end of time itself. This one mistake, if you can even call it that, is that on that cataclysmic day I have two almost identical yet oddly different set of memories. One where the Gurus, my mother's most trusted advisors, my little brother Janus and his cat Alfador, my mother and I are there for the awakening of Lavos. All of them, excluding Mother and I as well as that mindless parasite, were sucked into blue portals. After I teleported Mother and I out of that oceanic death trap, and Lavos obliterated Zeal, I was completely overwhelmed by it all. The mindless destruction and complete disregard for all life, was because of my folly, and the Gurus and Janus… I still quiver at the thought. In the remembrance of sorrow or shame, I am still unaware.

As for the second set of circumstances, neither the Gurus nor my brother are there. The Prophet, however, a man who even now seems to frighten me when I think of him, a strange boy and two girls appeared in their places. The three friends then proceeded to destroy the Mammon Machine, but to no avail except for the beast to awaken faster, and to irrevocably seal my fate. Yet I do not blame them for this. In fact, I give them my gratitude because they, along with their other comrades and The Prophet, who was named Magus, cheated death itself to conquer Lavos and they did not fail. They succeeded in eradicating that monster, and in doing so saved the future and the lives of so many people. This much I have gleaned from the demon's head that I an unwillingly bound to.

I still find it morbidly amusing that I am the one who is in parasitic union with this vile creature. Not any of the Gurus would have objected much, Belthasar with his thirst for knowledge, and Gaspar's insatiable curiosity could have been easily played upon, and though dear Melchior wouldn't be as easily swayed, if he was told he would have the power to protect countless people and let nature be abundant… why, he'd put up less of a fight than a kitten does when it's given milk. Dalton swears allegiance to no one; he was even thinking of betraying Mother. That is, until you mention immortality and power. Then he'll be your eternal servant. Even Mother, who was the perfect puppet, and Janus, whose potential for magic and connection to the Black Wind were far greater than mine, were all cast aside in making me its host; all because I was the Arbiter, the link between Lavos and the rest of the world.

I seem to have stumbled upon a stray thought. No, it can't be! The Prophet, Magus…could he be the little brother I have worried and wondered about all this time! Yet the more I think, the more I see its truth the words he said… _I've survived the darkness for you Lavos, and if fate is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed then, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh. I will have my revenge!_ Oh, my dear Janus…I am truly sorry about what you went through, but I knew of it not.

Arrgh, the pain! Is this it then you foul beast! You're finally finishing the job you started eons ago! Well, I will not allow myself to help in your resurrection a second time. I have sent a portion of spirit out of this place to combat your evil, and she, my daughter, will make sure your dirty carcass rots.

"Arrgh!" Another scream! But from who? There it is…a young boy three years of age being attacked by a panther demon. He reminds me so much of my brother. I must help him somehow, but there is nothing I can do. I then realize…The Frozen Flame! I know Belthasar's cunning plan and can only hope it works. I will send this boy, this Serge, to become the new Arbiter. I then commit my third and final act of defiance against what is now not Lavos, but The Time Devourer. I fall, much like my ancient homeland, into darkness.

Then, what only feels like a second or an eternity; either could be true in this accursed place; I open my eyes to a blinding blue light, the inside of a time portal. I then take a minute to recollect my thoughts, for my first minutes in the land of the living felt disjointed and confusing, and I only vaguely remember a conversation with my savior san love, Serge.

"Hey Ma, you conscious yet?" A voice rang out in my head.

"Kid, is that you? I can't see you…where are you?" I asked, looking for my daughter-clone.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm in your head! We are a lot more connected than the average mother and child, as you well know."

"Yes, I know that much, but I thought you asserted your independence before coming to rescue me." I said putting on my best authoritive voice.

"Sheesh, don't get all high and mighty on me! Just because you brought me into this world doesn't mean I can't take you out of it. You see, we'll eventually become one person again. Until then I have my own body, and I'm pretty sure I can make one after we come together if I start getting cramped in there." She said, annoyed.

"So basically," I said, "soon we're going to assimilate into one complete form, but until then you have a corporeal form, and you might be able to make one after we combine, and because of the assimilation we have telepathy with each other?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, pretty much, if you want it to be over complicated and sciency." She answered.

"You know what, kid? Right know, I can't decide if you're my obstinate daughter, an annoying little sister, or my version of Lynx in female form. Which do you think it is?" I shot back, her personality already blending with mine.

"Yeah, yeah, Ma, and you are the nicest thing since bunnies were domesticated. Now get a move on Schala! We've got places to visit, things to steal, and two bloody annoying men to beat to a pulp the minute we find them."

"Okay, okay, kid, I'm going. It seems that I'm going to have to teach you some patience." I said.

"Aw, Ma!" Kid whined, to which all I could do was laugh.

While silently I agreed, we would find my/our brother, and then search for wherever our love may have gone. Before I took the step out of the portal and started my quest to find what I had lost, I spared one final thought to that evil that had plagued me, my family, and the whole planned for an eternity. I said "Goodbye, you big dumb hedgehog," with my daughter's agreeing laughter giving her consent.


End file.
